BISMARCK, N.D. – A late comeback would fall short as the University of Minnesota Crookston men's basketball lost to University of Mary 94-89. The Golden Eagles would find themselves with a chance to overtake the Marauders with key possessions down one with 7:41 left in the second half. However, they would be come up empty and the Marauders, led by 28 from Bryan Jefferson, would come up with key baskets. UMC would be forced to mount a late comeback that would ultimately fall short as the Marauders came up with crucial free throws in the win.

Minnesota Crookston falls to 6-13 (2-11 NSIC) with the loss. U-Mary improves to 8-11 (6-7 NSIC) with the victory over the Golden Eagles. Minnesota Crookston has still continued to show improvement and remains one win from tying their mark of seven wins, which would match their best under Head Coach Dan Weisse.

"We were right there with less than 10 minutes left but defense is the name of the game and we couldn't come up with the stops when we needed them," said Head Coach Dan Weisse. "I like our fight and our toughness is getting better but we have to be able to guard people and we can't give up 94 points."

Minnesota Crookston was led by Harrison Cleary (Fr., G, Oak Creek, Wis.), who had a big night with 26 points on 8-of-14 from the field. He was 3-of-4 from beyond the arc and 7-of-8 from the charity stripe. Four other players tallied double-figure scoring. Chase Knickerbocker (So., G/F, Annandale, Minn.) would add 14 points, including going 3-of-7 from beyond the arc. Connor Gamble (R-Fr., G, Stillwater, Minn.) added 16 points, including going 4-of-4 from beyond the arc. Chase Johnson (Fr., F, La Crosse, Wis.) and Jim Warmack (Jr., F/C, East Grand Forks, Minn.) would each add 10 points.

"We are really building toughness and we were moving the ball well offensively," Weisse said. "We have guys who can make plays but we have to get guys that can guard for 40 minutes. U-Mary is a pretty good team and if you give them open shots, that ball is going to go in. We have to figure that out and if we can, we will be in a better spot to win these games."

Minnesota Crookston would shoot 31-of-54 from the field for 57.4 percent. The Golden Eagles were 10-of-17 for 58.8 percent from beyond the arc and 17-of-20 for 85.0 percent. They had a strong offensive night overall, but struggled defensively.

The Marauders would go 30-of-54 from the field for 55.6 percent. They were 5-of-11 for 45.5 percent from beyond the arc. They were also clutch from the charity stripe as they finished 29-of-37 for 78.r percent. U-Mary would force 14 turnovers by the Golden Eagles. They would narrowly out-rebound UMC 29-26.

Jefferson would lead the way for U-Mary with 28 points on 9-of-13 from the field and 10-of-13 from the charity stripe. Rickey Suggs added 19 points on 7-of-10 from the field. Damonta Henry would come off the bench for 16, while Trevor Zacher added 11 points.

The Marauders would get out to a 6-2 advantage on a Rickey Suggs basket. The Golden Eagles would charge back and knot it up 6-6 after a pair of Warmack free throws.U-Mary would take lead back 8-6 on a Suggs tip-in.

U-Mary narrowly won the rebound battle in the first half 15-14. Cleary would respond on the UMC end with a triple to put the Golden Eagles up 9-8.

The Marauders would respond and would get back out to a 13-9 lead after a Trevor Zacher old-fashioned three-point play. They would be able to push their lead out to 16-11 on a Henry three-pointer.

The Golden Eagles would go on a 7-2 run to slash into the U-Mary advantage with 10:47 left on a Johnson basket to get the lead down to 20-18. U-Mary would respond and would able to go up 23-18 after a Jaylan White old-fashioned three-point play.

UMC would come back with another run, this time 6-0, as a Gable Smith bucket put the Golden Eagles on top 24-23. The Marauders would again combat the run and would take a 26-24 lead on a pair of Jefferson free throws.

Minnesota Crookston would again mount a comeback and would knot it up 29-29 on a Knickerbocker three-pointer off of a Johnson assist. U-Mary would take the lead back on a Jefferson basket with 6:06 left (31-30).

The Golden Eagles would be able to steal the lead right back and would go up 36-33 after a Knickerbocker jumper with 3:22 left. U-Mary would see-saw the lead right back in their favor 38-36 on a Pat Thomas trey. UMC would come right back with a three of their own from Gamble to make it 41-40 with 1:42 remaining in the half.

The Marauders would go up 42-41 on a Suggs bucket with 1:22 left. However, UMC would respond and would go into the break up 45-44 on U-Mary.

Minnesota Crookston would look to the play of Johnson in the first half. The UMC freshman would have 10 points and six boards in 16 minutes in the first half. He was 3-of-7 from the field and an unblemished 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. Cleary would add 10, while Gamble had seven and Knickerbocker chipped in six.

The Golden Eagles were 15-of-29 from the field for 51.7 percent from the field. They were 3-of-7 from beyond the arc for 42.9 percent. UMC was a near-perfect 12-of-13 for 92.3 percent from the charity stripe.

The Marauders shot 14-of-26 for 53.8 percent from the field in the opening half. They were 2-of-6 for 33.3 percent from behind the three-point line and 14-of-16 for 87.5 percent from the charity stripe. U-Mary looked to 12 points and five boards from Jefferson. Suggs added 11 points, while Henry had eight points.

The two teams would trade the lead early on in the second half until the Marauders would be able to build their lead to 56-51 led by triples from Henry and Zacher. Knickerbocker would stop the quick U-Mary run with a three-pointer to cut the lead to 56-54. Cleary would nail a three-pointer to put UMC back on top 57-56 with under 14 minutes remaining. However, Lindquist came right back and got a bucket in the post to tip the scales in U-Mary's favor 58-57. The Golden Eagles would take the lead from the Marauders as Smith found Cleary on a cross court pass for the fast-break to make it 59-58 in favor of Minnesota Crookston. The Marauders would continue the see-saw affair as Thomas converted a layup to make it 60-59.

U-Mary would be able to extend their lead to 62-59 with 10:40 remaining after a Suggs bucket. UMC would come back and cut into that lead as Smith was fouled going to the basket following a steal. He would make 1-of-2 to cut it to 62-60.

The Marauders would build their lead to 64-60 on a Suggs layup. UMC would be able to cut into it as Knickerbocker nailed a three-pointer from the top of the key to cut the deficit to 64-63. However, Lindquist would come right back with a big bucket to push it back out to 66-63. On the other end, Knickerbocker would hit a pair of free throws to again pull UMC within one at 66-65 with eight minutes left in the contest.

Jefferson would respond for the Marauders with a clutch dunk to again tip it back to 68-65. However, UMC would not go away as Warmack got a response basket to slash the lead to 68-67. Jefferson would keep igniting the Marauders as he went coast-to-coast to help push the advantage back out to 71-67.

The Golden Eagles would cut the lead to 71-69 and then would come up with a big defensive stop. Knickerbocker would look to have a bucket for UMC but would be called for his fourth foul of the game on a charge, giving the ball back to the Marauders.

UMC would again come up with a defensive stop as U-Mary would be called for traveling. UMC would fail to take advantage and Jefferson would come back on the other end with a transition bucket to make it 73-69 Marauders.

Minnesota Crookston would get a pair of free throws from Cleary to cut the lead back down to two at 73-71 with 3:10 left in the game. On the other end, 

Jefferson would be fouled where he would go to the charity stripe. The Marauder would hit both free throws to make it 75-71. After a defensive stop for the Marauders, Jefferson would again make the big play with an old-fashioned three-point play to push it out to 78-71 with 2:30 left in the game.

Johnson would get a basket on the other end to get UMC back within five at 78-73 with 2:20 remaining in the game. However, Zacher would come up with a big three-point shot to make it 81-73 with two minutes left in the game.

Cleary would respond with a jumper to cut it back down it 81-75 with 1:40 remaining. After a foul, Jefferson would miss both but an offensive rebound would give it back to the Marauders. Suggs would come up with the clutch basket to push it out to 83-75. However, UMC would not go away. Cleary would nail a three to cut the lead back down to 83-78.

The Golden Eagles would again foul quick sending Henry to the line. The Marauder would hit both to push the advantage to 85-78 with 1:03 remaining. The Golden Eagles would use a Gamble triple to pull within 85-81 with 52.7 seconds remaining.

UMC would quickly foul Thomas, who would go to the charity stripe. Thomas would hit both to push the lead back out to 87-81. Cleary would again come up with a shot to cut the lead to 87-83. Minnesota Crookston would again be forced to foul, again sending to Thomas to the line. The U-Mary point guard would again hit both to make it 89-83 with 40.9 seconds remaining.

Gamble would hit a long three-pointer this time as the Golden Eagles refused to give in. The shot would cut the lead to 89-86. This time they would foul Henry, who would go to the charity stripe and go 1-of-2 to put the Marauders up 90-86.
This time the shot would miss from Smith and they would again be forced to foul. U-Mary's Suggs would clinch the game with free throws as the Marauders would hang on for the 94-86 win.

The Golden Eagles will look to get back on a winning track as they take on Minot State Sat., Jan. 21 at 6 p.m. at the MSU Dome.